Tractor Stand - REVISED

Tue Jan 24, 2012 8:34 am

Was inspired by some of the tractor stands already on this site, so decided to make a pair. As with all lifting devices, make sure to put safety first.

These resemble Ricky Racer's stands more than the others (thanks Ricky!), but with a difference. I was having trouble getting a floor jack and a stand under the Cub's lift point; seemed they both competed for the same floor space. So, I decided to combine the two and let them use the same floor space. Here's what I came up with.

First, I started making a frame to hold the body of the stand in place while I welded the legs to it. My base was a doubled up portion of 3/4" plywood, but could any piece of stable wood. 3/4" x 3/4" pieces were added leaving a 12" x 12" clear inside dimension:

Next, I measured the inside of the 3" square tubing and made a column to fit inside and mounted it to the base in the exact center (extra wood was added to the sides to keep the 3" square tubing suspended in the air at the right height:

The first angle iron leg was cut to length (measured at the joint or outside edge) then propped up against the body:

Then, I scribed the bottom to get the correct angle. I want the leg bottoms to sit flush with the floor. This turned out the be 74 degrees:

The other leg(s) were cut. Since I knew the angle, I cut them to the correct angle the first time, instead of scribing each one:

As you can see, my bottle jack will fit under the bottom of the jack stand body:

All four legs are welded to the body:

Cross bracing is added:

Then the center portion of the jack is drilled out and welded to the top receiver and bottom plate. The number of holes and spacing on your jack may differ. Suit to fit your needs:

It looked a lot better ground and wire wheeled:

Next, I wanted some mid-level support. Something that would tie the middle portion of the leg to the lower part of the body. I thought the supports would be cut at the same 74 degree angle, but mine had to be cut at 66 degrees and fitted so they connect the inside of the legs with the corners of the body. Came up with this (jack is upside down):

Finally done:

And in use:

Disclamer: Be careful. Make sure you make good, solid welds. When using your new jacks for the first time, use other stands or wood cribbing for backup. Safety first; you are responsible.

Last edited by Stanton on Mon Jan 30, 2012 7:39 am, edited 2 times in total.

Re: Tractor Stand

Tue Jan 24, 2012 3:06 pm

Whenever I do something in a way that I haven't done before, I try to ask myself what could go wrong. When it involves jacking or blocking, I try doubly hard to look for potential hazards. In this case it took the second look, but I do see a risk. When the jack is in place and holding the load, there is no weight on the lower piece of your stand. At that point it is only serving as a bit of decoration for the upper part. The upper part is acting about the same as a piece of 2x4 standing on end to extend the reach of a jack. The width of the jack's base and the placement of the jack stand against the lifting pad is all that keeps the parts upright. If the pad is off level it will be adding a lot of side pressure on things.

I see two ways to address this.1) Add some sort of base plate so that the jack exerts down force on the bottom half of the jack stand.2) Add bracing near the bottom of the jack stand that will hold the bottom of the jack at the center of the jack stand. (This would probably make your jack captive to the stand while the stand is in use.)

Re: Tractor Stand

Tue Jan 24, 2012 3:47 pm

I think I see what you're talking about.

By encompassing the bottle jack within the stand/system, the bottle jack would be pushing against the bottom plate or stand, instead of the ground or floor. Therefore, by keeping the jacking pressure only touching one element (the stand) instead of two elements (the stand and the floor), I've reduced the risk of side pressure shifting the tractor off balance.

Thanks for the critique, it's appreciated.

Re: Tractor Stand

Tue Jan 24, 2012 4:18 pm

Yes, exactly. Having the weight on the bottom of the jack stand brings the whole jack stand base into use rather than just the jack base, increasing stability. It also supports the upper part of the jack stand keeping it in line with the jack.